Nourishing Mind and Body

What's New, Mar/Apr 2002 by Sokoloff, Michele

Food, food, food. It nourishes and heals our body, our mind and our soul. Not only do certain foods keep one healthy, but they can also cleanse the body of potential problems and illnesses. There are nine foods that are considered the top healing foods to have in your daily diet. They are: broccoli, garlic, kidney beans, nonfat milk, oranges, salmon, tofu, tomato sauce, and water. Helping students understand how each of these foods contribute to their physical and mental health is always our challenge.

It is no accident that there are several articles re-lated to food in this issue. After all, your focus and ours at What's New is on helping our students develop skills for living. At times, it seems they know so little and we wonder how they will ever get along.

Deborah Gerstein knows first hand how to guide, tug and pull young people in understanding food labels. In her article (page 28), Gerstein maps out specific activities to analyze parts of food labels and help students be more conscious of the food they eat. Joyce Rasdall, a frequent contributor to What's New, has put together the latest features in microwave ovens (page 29); obviously food related. The newer microwaves are described today as more user-friendly with "help" touchpads. We may not be able to do "slow cooking" every day. But the microwave is certainly a cooking tool that streamlines our food preparation possibilities.

The range of topics covered in this issue of What's New is a modest example of the diverse life skills curriculum. You can see beginning on page 16, a series of articles titled "Fresh View." They cover materials and resources to help teach about parenting and pregnancy; hospitality as a training program; building entrepreneurship, fundraising and community service into a sewing program; nutrition and cooking displays & games; integrating technology into a career exploration program; and free videos on financial issues and food product development.

You, our friendly reader, are the experts. The contributions you make in the lives of so many, is what we wish to acknowledge and applaud in What's New. Your comments and suggestions via our website, e-mail or regular mail is always welcomed.

Michele Sokoloff

michelesok@whats-new-mag.com